Total experimental uncertainty in hydrodynamic testing of a semisubmersible wind turbine, considering numerical propagation of systematic uncertainty

Journal Article · 14 December 2019 · Ocean Engineering

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2019.106605 · OSTI ID:1580490

Robertson, Amy  ^[1]; Bachynski, Erin E. ^[2]; Gueydon, Sebastien ^[3]; Wendt, Fabian  ^[1]; Schünemann, Paul ^[4]

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1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
2. Norwegian Univ. of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim (Norway)
3. Maritime Research Inst. Netherlands (MARIN), Wageningen (Netherlands)
4. Univ. of Rostock (Germany)

Quantifying the uncertainty in experimental results is a vital step in properly validating numerical simulation tools for designing floating wind turbines; without a good understanding of the experimental uncertainties, it is impossible to confirm if numerical simulation tools can capture the physics with acceptable accuracy. Recent validation studies suggest that the wave-induced, low-frequency surge and pitch motions of semisubmersible-type floating wind turbines are consistently underpredicted by numerical simulations, but it has not been possible to state whether or not this underprediction is within the level of experimental error. Here, previously assessed systematic uncertainty components in hydrodynamic tests of the OC5-DeepCwind semisubmersible are propagated to response metrics of interest using numerical simulation tools, and combined with the system's random uncertainty to obtain the total experimental uncertainty. The uncertainty in the low-frequency response metrics is found to be most sensitive to the system properties (e.g., mooring stiffness and center of gravity), and also the wave elevation. The results of the present study suggest that the underprediction of the low-frequency response behavior observed in previous validation studies is larger than the experimental uncertainty.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Renewable Energy. Wind Energy Technologies Office
• Grant/Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1580490
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1579444
• Report Number(s): NREL/JA-5000-73194
• Journal Information: Ocean Engineering, Vol. 195, Issue C; ISSN 0029-8018
• Publisher: ElsevierCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English